Elon Musk has tweeted himself into what could be serious trouble.The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla's CEO on Thursday for making "false and misleading" statements to investors. It's asking a federal judge to prevent Musk from serving as an officer or a director of a public company, among other penalties.The complaint hinges on a tweet Musk sent on Aug. 7 about taking Tesla private."Am considering taking Tesla private at $420," Musk said. "Funding secured."The SEC said he had not actually secured the funding."In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source," the SEC said in its complaint.That tweet and subsequent tweets from Musk over the next three hours caused "significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla's stock," as well as harm to investors, the SEC said. On the day of Musk's tweet, Tesla's stock shot up nearly 9 percent. It has declined substantially since then.Tesla's stock dropped more than 11 percent in after-hours trading Thursday. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The SEC also declined to comment.The complaint also said that Musk rounded up the go-private price to $420 per share "because he had recently learned about the number's significance in marijuana culture" and thought his girlfriend would find it funny. He was dating the musician Grimes.Musk did not consult with any board members, employees or outside advisers before he sent the tweets, according to the SEC."This is serious. This is what you go after insider traders and market manipulators on," said Charles Whitehead, professor at Cornell Law School. "This is a serious allegation."Musk abandoned the plan to take Tesla private less than three weeks after he first tweeted about it. He later said his "funding secured" comment was based on talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, which he said had urged him to take the company private and offered to increase its investment in Tesla.Shareholders have also filed lawsuits charging that Musk made the claim to manipulate the stock price.— CNNMoney's Matt Egan and Jackie Wattles contributed to this report.The-CNN-Wire

Elon Musk has tweeted himself into what could be serious trouble.

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla's CEO on Thursday for making "false and misleading" statements to investors. It's asking a federal judge to prevent Musk from serving as an officer or a director of a public company, among other penalties.

"In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source," the SEC said in its complaint.

That tweet and subsequent tweets from Musk over the next three hours caused "significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla's stock," as well as harm to investors, the SEC said. On the day of Musk's tweet, Tesla's stock shot up nearly 9 percent. It has declined substantially since then.

Tesla's stock dropped more than 11 percent in after-hours trading Thursday. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The SEC also declined to comment.

The complaint also said that Musk rounded up the go-private price to $420 per share "because he had recently learned about the number's significance in marijuana culture" and thought his girlfriend would find it funny. He was dating the musician Grimes.

Musk did not consult with any board members, employees or outside advisers before he sent the tweets, according to the SEC.

"This is serious. This is what you go after insider traders and market manipulators on," said Charles Whitehead, professor at Cornell Law School. "This is a serious allegation."

Musk abandoned the plan to take Tesla private less than three weeks after he first tweeted about it. He later said his "funding secured" comment was based on talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, which he said had urged him to take the company private and offered to increase its investment in Tesla.

Shareholders have also filed lawsuits charging that Musk made the claim to manipulate the stock price.